First Boat Down to two

notare · #1 (**permalink**) 06-29-2007

I am looking at buying my first boat have been doing a lot of reading. I am looking at a north american spirit 23 and an amf paceship 23. Was wondering if anyone had any input on these boats. From my limited experience they both have good hulls a little stress cracking on the deck by stanchions. Ive read what to look for when buying a new used boat but was wondering if anyone had their own tips etc. ahead of time thank you for any and all help.

camaraderie · #2 (**permalink**) 06-29-2007

If equal condition...get the Spirit. BUT...decks are plywood cored so be SURE you don't have water underneath that stress cracking!

notare · #3 (**permalink**) 07-01-2007

Another question I was looking inside both boats and we have had alot of rain both boats are on trailers but after all this rain the spirit has water in the bilge the paceship py 23 is bone dry in the bilge

sailingdog · #4 (**permalink**) 07-01-2007

Hmm... both boats are on the hard on trailers, yet in a rainstorm the spirit has water in the bilge... that means she has some serious deck leaks someplace... and if the deck is cored as Cam says, that is really not a good thing. I would probably go for the Paceship then...

notare · #5 (**permalink**) 07-01-2007

Thanks for the info Im going to go tuesday to go over both with a fine tooth comb. Does anyone have any experience with either of these boats are they good boats its for me my wife and our 3 year old and I wouldnt mind entering some regattas in the future.

camaraderie · #6 (**permalink**) 07-01-2007

Check out The Paceship Website to see more details and get in touch with other owners if you end up leaning that way.

Sailormann · #7 (**permalink**) 07-02-2007

I owned a couple of boats that were made by Paceship - a Mouette and a Bluenose. The Mouette was the first boat I ever purchsed on my own, and myself and my friends subjected the poor thing to all kinds of abuse, which the boat dealt with and shrugged off. Can't fault the quality at all. They were made in Mahone Bay (Nova Scotia) by an "old school" family yard, and all of the Paceships were very popular boats in that region. The 23 is not the fastest boat out there, but it is certainly seaworthy.

That said - I have no knowledge of the "Spirit", so can't make any kind of comparison, and the boats are of the age now where the maintenance it has had is probably as important the initial build quality.

Good Luck !

notare · #8 (**permalink**) 07-03-2007

turned out i had gotten confused the amf was full of water in the bilge and the spirit 23 was bone dry had you can tell the spirit 23 was taken care of. So looks like I am the new owner of a north american spirit 23

sailingdog · #9 (**permalink**) 07-03-2007

Congratulations.

Sailormann · #10 (**permalink**) 07-03-2007

Very good ! Remember ... pointy end forward